The present invention relates to pickup devices, and more particularly to devices for the sanitary disposal of animal excrement and the like.
Numerous devices have been used for clearing animal excrement from fouled surfaces, including a long-handled scoop implement that is used in combination with a long-handled scraper. Other devices of the prior art include implements that load disposable bags and implements that load disposable receptacles. Implements that load disposable receptacles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,929,363 to Kahan and 4,247,139 to Grieb. These devices are typically subject to the following disadvantages:
1. They are expensive to produce, being relatively complex;
2. They are likely to become contaminated with waste, subjecting users to contact with the contamination when loading receptacles subsequent to the contamination; and
3. They are ineffective for multiple pick-ups into a single receptacle, because the receptacle is latched closed as the waste is being received therein.
Implements that load disposable bags are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,446,525 to Jones, 4,210,351 to Orofino, and 4,323,272 to Portier. While affording some advantages over the devices having disposable receptacles, these devices are nevertheless subject to one or more of the following disadvantages:
1. They are difficult to use in that the bag is difficult to install on the device;
2. They are ineffective in that the bag is not reliably closed following pick-up, and exposed surfaces of the bag are likely to be contaminated by contact with the ground;
3. While in some cases it is possible to make multiple pick-ups into a single bag, it is done with considerable difficulty and uncertainty; and
4. The device is complex and expensive to produce in that it must support a bag that provides no support apart from permanent portions of the device.
Thus, there is a need for a pickup device that overcomes the above disadvantages.